cruising
by Neon la'Shadow
Summary: Cruise boats, culinary skills and little brothers. Happy Birthday Arashi Wolf Princess.


"I truly can't wait to get off of this tub Mokuba" Seto grumbled. The distant horizon glittering a dozen different shades of blue. Mokuba just rolled his eyes.

"If the food is 'that' bad, order something else" the younger of the two replied, his voice cheerful. Seto gave him a baleful look.

Turning back to his ever present laptop Seto scathingly responded "as if anything else would be any better". Mokuba put his fork down very deliberately. The cruise boat heaved a little and the elder of the two grumbled as his stomach churned.

Mokuba glanced around and caught sight of their waiter and flagged him over. "Could I please speak to the Master Chef please?" he asked his wide eyes glittering. The elderly waiter smiled and cooed, nodding and gesturing for the small billionaire to follow him to the galley.

Below the restaurant a frazzled looking blond man weaved his way through the galley's cooking bays and headed towards the staff exit. His sous chef had called in ill and he was working double time running the kitchens and cooking the 300 Crème brûlée that were required each day. Unfortunately his break was about to be interrupted before it even began.

The elderly waiter entered the galley and called out over the constant mull of noise "Master chef! Mousier!" The blond stopped in his tracks and heaved a sigh. His blond ponytail hung limp over his shoulder. He turned to reply and froze.

"Moki?" his amber eyes widened at the sight of the black spiky haired youth.

"Joey!" the younger boy dashed over to him grinning wide "your the Master Chef?"

The blond nodded mutely and glanced at the confused waiter "Thank you Markus you may return to your post" the elderly man nodded and toddled off back to his section.

Mokuba smiled up at the tired blond "If I'd known you were the Master Chef I would have come and visited a lot sooner."

Joey smiled back at the other boy "we'll what can I do for you Moki?".

He led the young billionaire over to the staff door and led him out into the corridor beyond. The quiet was almost oppressive and the younger of the two frowned "I'm not sure I can ask, as its you."

Joey tilted his head to the side with a quizzical look on his face "Whats wrong with me? I have been to Uni and I have trained under some of the best chefs in the world." Mokuba smiled and put his hands behind his back taking on an innocent pose.

"Because I was going to ask the Master Chef to teach Seto how to cook." Joey froze.

"You would want me to teach Kiba to cook? Why!?" Mokuba giggled. Joey took a closer look at the boy. '_He__'__s taller, older. What was he? 17 now? His hight is deceptive.__' _

Mokuba sighed. "Big brother doesn't eat well cuse he doesn't trust people. He doesn't trust other people near his food at all. Too many assassination attempts I guess"

Joey nodded. "Understandable. We have a private kitchen that we use if passengers have any allergies, its not in use as no one needed it. Bring Kiba to the kitchen doors just before the dinner rush and I'll bring you both down and give you a proper tour. If he wants to, I'll teach him."

Mokuba bounced on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Seto grumbled as he placed his laptop and all of his work in their rooms safe "I agreed that we could spend the day together. Therefore I reserve the right to return to my work after dinner." Mokuba rolled his eyes and grabbed Seto's hand. He dragged him all over the ship, the pool, the spa, the games room (where admittedly they spent the most time). As dinner approached Mokuba lead his brother into the restaurant "Moki, we're too early for them to feed us"

Mokuba turned to face the elder of the two "I know, but I organised us a tour of the galley" Seto huffed and crossed his arms.

"Theres no way I can get out of it is there?" Mokuba shook his head and strode off to the galley doors.

Joey smiled at the young boy as the ravenet winked at him. The smile faltered a little as the taller billionaire approached. "Wheeler? What the hell are you doing here?"

Joey smiled and pulled himself up into good posture "Good evening Mousier Kiba, I am Joey Wheeler and I am the Master Chef on this cruise. Please allow me to show you our fantastic galley" with that the blond gave the two passengers a proper Japanese deep bow to show his respect.

Seto blinked at the odd behaviour and looked to his little brother. Whom was looking at Joey with laughter in his eyes. "Yes, well… lead on then" Seto mumbled and Joey opened the door and ushered them in.

Seto was impressed. Each of the cooks worked busily around their designated post with efficiency and purpose all the while without making a mess or running into the waiting staff that weaved in and out of each area with their hands full of something or other. Each cook cooked only what they were ordered to cook, the constant mull of noise was rarely interrupted by a raised voice other that the head waiter and of course, Joey. "Here is Janice's bay, she cooks and prepares our roasts, over there is Antony, he's filling in for Jacob who is our sous chef."

Mokuba looked up at Joey and smiled at the pride the blond was radiating. "What does the sous chef do?"

Joey glanced at Mokuba and smiled back at the boy. "Jacob and his assistant Antony make 300 Crème brûlée every day." Mokuba gasped and seto gave him an incredulous look which Joey chuckled at "One of our passengers orders 18 Crème brûlée a day. For himself!" Antony heard them and laughed. His face flushed from the heat of the blowtorch in his left hand. "You see, you can make the sugar on top caramelise in the oven but that ruins the Crème brûlée itself. So instead we use a hand held welding blow torch and do them one by one."

Seto hummed in appreciation as Antony began doing just that. Mokuba smiled at Joey and the blond nodded in acknowledgement. They moved on, after Antony had handed them each a fresh and still warm Crème brûlée. Joey stopping every once in a while to point out an interesting fact, introduce them to some chefs, show them something he thought was cool or to ask if they had any questions.

Eventually he guided them back to the entrance/ exit to the restaurant. "Dinner should be brought up to you soon" Seto nodded and healed out his hand to shake Joey's.

"Thank you very much for the tour. Would you come and join us on deck later?" Joey blinked in surprise and his smile fell. Seto seeing this and thinking it regection dropped his hand and Joey sighed.

"I don't finish my shift until 11:45, and the wind on deck is damn freezing tonight" Mokuba laughed.

"Then join us on the game deck?" his smile cheering both older men up instantly.

"Sure!"

The rest of the cruise passed swiftly as Seto and Joey spent as much time as possible together. Both men realising much had changed over the few years they had not seen each other and neither Joey or Mokuba remembered their deal. As the ship pulled slowly into Domino port Joey and Seto stood side by side on Seto's balcony. "Sooo, How did you become a Chef?" Seto asked without any preamble.

Joey blushed and lent against the balcony railing. "We'll, after high school and all that stuff that happened with Atemu and the Shadow realm, Yugi, Ryou, Malik and I all needed to get away from Domino for a bit. We went travelling. Eventually we ended up in paris and there was a chef, Marco Pierre. He did this once off master course and Yugi talked me into going. And this guy Pierre, he's… intense. He came up to me at the end and told me to cook something for him, anything. I cooked this maranara pasta dish mum used to make and he told me I was a good cook, that I could be a great cook. So when we got back to Domino I took a few classes, they turned into a course and that lead to me looking for a job as a cook. Soon I had sent my resume to every place I could think of and I got a job here on this cruise line."

Seto nodded "I'm impressed"

Joey smiled and turned to look at the young billionaire "What about you?"

Seto fidgeted "I can't cook"

Joey looked at him oddly "I meant are you still running KibaCorp or are you doing something new?"

Seto sighed "Im planing something new. Still working on it, but I'm thinking of opening a virtual reality them park." Joey's face lit up at the idea "I've been working on the logistics" Joey nodded and a sly smirk twisted his lips.

"That sounds awesome but lets back track a bit, you can't cook?" Seto shook his head and blushed "Do you want to learn?"

Seto looked at Joey as if he had grown a second head. "What? No! You don't understand. Its not that I don't want to cook, I can't cook!" Mokuba laughed from inside the room startling the two men who hadn't heard him return.

"Thats right! Big brother once set water on fire!" He laughed uproariously and Seto's blush darkened "We still haven't figured out how."

Joey shook his head at the smaller boy "Thats ok, I'm sure I could teach you." Seto hummed and crossed his arms and Joey smiled "thats settled!"

Seto waited for Joey to arrive, the blond having had to return to the apartment he shared with his sister to drop his things off and tell her about his time on his job. It was coming up to 6 o'clock when the billionaire heard a knock at the front door. A shouted "I'll get it!" stopped him from leaving the pristine white kitchen. Moments later the blond entered the kitchen a smile on his face and a set of grocery bags in his hands.

"I bought ingredients for a simple pasta dish and an apple pie. Is that ok for you?" Seto nodded but din't move otherwise. The blond took in the sight of the usually assured business man fidgeting in the centre of the room far enough from the benches and appliances that there was no chance he could be accused of instigating the destruction of the kitchen he seemed so sure was imminent. Joey shook his head and stepped forward close to the other man, so close the frayed bottom of his apron brushed the others tailored slacks. Taking his hand Joey pulled Seto to the stove. "Its ok, I've kept it easy." Seto nodded and relaxed his shoulders.

An hour and a half later Mokuba was startled by the smell of spaghetti bolognese. Getting up after turning his game system off he carefully entered the kitchen to a sight he would never have expected.

Joey and Seto stood at the bench and a comfortable embrace, Seto stirring a bowl full of batter a small smile on his face. Joey stood pressed to Seto's back chin on the brunet's shoulder murmuring instructions to him. Arms wrapped snugly around the other mans waist. Seto's usual trench coat was draped over a chair and Joey's apron had migrated from his waist to Seto's.

Mokuba smiled and picked up Seto's phone to take a quick picture of the two men before backing out of sight and calling out "Wow what smells so good?" He walked into the kitchen to see the two of them still embraced.

Seto looked at Mokuba, the tinniest shadow of fear flickering in his gaze. Mokuba smiled and picked Seto's phone up and took a second picture before moving to sit at the table. Seto felt his shoulders relax at his brothers obvious acceptance of his and Joey's position.

Joey smiled into Seto's neck giving him a quick kiss, loving Seto's quiet gasp of surprise before he moved back to the stove to mix the bolognese sauce. Seto looked from Mokuba to Joey. Distracted by thoughts of them acting like brothers yea reached for the next ingredient. Joey walked passed and picked up a half cup of milk and returned to his side.

Seto, so deep in thought payed no attention to hims as he came up to him and wrapped one arm around his waist. lift in his hand to add the next ingredient he was startled as Joey gently grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "I don't think you want to add vinegar to your pie filling." Seto blinked at him in confusion before looking down at the jug in his hand. The clear liquid sloshed around the cup and he felt his cheeks flame. Joey chuckled and took the jug of vinegar from him and handed him the jug of milk instead.

Joey dished the pasta out onto three plates and Seto added the pie filling to the already made base. His serious face ignored due to the shifting of his shoulders in suppressed laughter. He placed the pie in the oven and let Joey set the timer and temperature before he sat at the table. All three plates served up with pasta and bolognese sauce and a liege pile of parmesan cheese. The two brothers waited with bated breath as Joey took the first bight.

Joey chewed thoroughly and swallowed before he smiled. "Its good, little bit strong on the tomatoes but good." Seto blushed and shared a secret smile with Joey, both of them knowing without the blond Seto would have muddled it up terribly. cream and strawberries definitely would have ruined it, but Joey's ability to steer Seto back onto the right track had essentially saved dinner.

After their meal of slightly too tomato-y spaghetti bolognese and the slightly bitter apple pie (that was fixed with a big scoop of cream) Joey and Seto left Mokuba to his homework and took a walk around the grounds of Seto's gardens.

They stopped underneath a large evergreen tree and looked at the stars. "Seto? Could I teach you more about cooking again?" Joey fidgeted and scratched at the back of his head a blush dusting his cheeks.

Seto smiled and shook his head. "No I don't think so" Joey's shoulders slumped and Seto smirked "I know I can't cook. So I think it would be easier and better for Mokuba's and my health you just move in and cook for us" Joey looked at Seto his face showing conflicting emotions of surprise and confusion. "Serenity will have to move in too I guess, to keep Mokuba company"

Joey laughed in joy and pulled the slightly taller man to him. "Is that so Mister Kiba? I guess we should talk about payment then." Seto smirked and wrapped his arms around Joey's waist

"I was thinking, I will take you out on a date at the least three times a week, and I agree to do all the usual mushy stuff."

Joey nodded and reached up to wrap his arms around Seto's neck "and where would I sleep?"

Seto pretended to think about it for a few moments "well there is a room just down the hall from mine, and if I ever give you a raise I'm sure I could fit you in my room." Joey laughed his whole body radiating pure joy as he leant up and gently kissed the less than stoic man in his arms. Seto pulled Joey closer to him and returned the gesture. As they pulled apart he whispered "so is that a yes?"

Joey smiled and rested his head on Seto's shoulder "Yea, thats a yes."


End file.
